Season Ticketing as a Risk Management Tool in Professional Team Sports: A Pricing Analysis of German Soccer and Basketball

Abstract

Ticket sales remain a significant source of revenue in professional team sports. However, season ticket revenue, as an effective risk-reducing instrument, is rarely analyzed in the literature. This study aims to determine, from a price and product perspective, the extent to which different factors affect season ticket prices. Using three different professional German sports leagues, a ticket-pricing model was developed as the empirical model. Consistent with other pricing studies, an ordinary least-squares (OLS) model and a Tobit model were fit. The results indicate that different season ticket rights, type of season ticket, club league membership, fan club membership, club stadium utilization rate, club sporting performance, and club market size have significant negative or positive impacts on season ticket price. Whereas, for example, a reserved seat in the stadium has a positive impact, the population of the club’s city has a negative impact. Based on the results, club managers should consider all traditional season ticket rights and season ticket discounts when calculating season ticket pricing. These and further implications are discussed with respect to the risk management issues of season ticket pricing in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and differences in local market constellations of professional team sports clubs.